1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to point of sale terminals and more particularly to receipt printers for use with a point of sale terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
One example of an information handling system is a point of sale (POS) terminal. A point-of-sale terminal is a computerized replacement for a cash register. A point of sale terminal can include the ability to record and track customer orders, process credit and debit cards, connect to other systems in a network, and manage inventory. Generally, a point of sale terminal has as its core an information handling system, which is provided with application specific programs and I/O devices for the particular environment in which the point of sale terminal will serve. A point of sale system for a restaurant, for example, is likely to have all menu items stored in a database that can be queried for information in a number of ways. Point of sale terminals are used in most industries that have a point of sale such as retail stores, restaurants, and lodging.
Known point of sale solutions often include receipt printers. There are two main categories of receipt printers, single station receipt printers and multi-station receipt printers. A single station receipt printer is a printer that is dedicated to printing out a single receipt (such as a 3 inch wide receipt). Thermal receipt technology has become a popular choice for single station receipt printers because of the fast print speed and lack of consumables other than the thermal paper itself.
Multi-station printers combine the thermal receipt printing functionality with an additional one or more print heads that are used for endorsing checks, filling out checks or printing custom sized forms. Due to the need for multiple print heads, multi-station printers are often expensive and can be unreliable. The solutions for printing on plain paper checks or forms are usually either an impact print mechanism or an inkjet print mechanism. Both of these solutions are slower than thermal and often require the use of additional consumables (either print ribbon or ink cartridges).
It is desirable to provide a receipt printer which includes multiple printing technologies without requiring multiple print heads or without requiring impact or inkjet print mechanisms.